The present disclosure relates to Point-to-Multipoint (P2MP) communication networks.
G.hn is a home networking standard developed by ITU (International Telecommunications Union). The G.hn standard describes a multi-node network (similar to a Wi-Fi network) that shares a channel (power line, phone line or coax cable). A network is known as a “domain” in the standard. A multi-node domain is controlled by a single node called Domain Master (DM) in a point to multipoint network configuration. In some existing networking topologies using G.hn technology, the maximum number of nodes supported in the network is limited by the capability of the node acting as the DM. As an example, current hardware implementations of a DM supports up to 15 connections using physical couplings, such as ports. Consequently, the maximum number of devices in a network domain is 16 (i.e., 1+15=16). However, in some cases it is desirable for some network architectures to support more nodes, for example customer premises equipment (CPE), than is supported based on the DM's constraints.